Newport Beach-based Toba Capital invested in the booming e-sports segment, co-leading a $5 million funding round for a Santa Monica company that runs tournaments and related events for amateur gamers.
The venture capital round in Super League Gaming was co-led by aXiomatic, an e-sports ownership group headed by Peter Guber, chairman and chief executive of Mandalay Entertainment and co-owner of the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Football Club.
Super League aims to become the hub of recreational, or nonpro, gamers, hosting its own live events and fueling social interactions it contends are lacking in the fragmented segment.
The organization has hosted more than 9,000 players in friendly competitions in five seasons of league play.
Toba, launched in 2012 by former Quest Software Chief Executive Vinny Smith, is OC’s largest venture capital firm, with a portfolio of more than 40 software companies backed and $400 million invested.
He launched Toba after receiving more than $800 million from the 2012 sale of the Aliso Viejo-based business software maker for $2.8 billion to Dell Inc. in Round Rock, Texas.
— Chris Casacchia
